Chapter 1273: The Person of Legends
Chapter 1273: The Person of Legends
Li Qingshan secretly felt fortunate inside. If it were not for the space-devouring beast, Navy Li’l Fatty, they probably could not take down the ghost tower even if they gathered all the cultivators in the world. Just sovereign Li alone, even if he could not leave the tower, was not someone Daemon Kings or great cultivators could defeat.
Sensing Navy Li’l Fatty’s current state, he could not help but feel some pity. Space-devouring beasts did turn into worlds, but they were still different at the end of the day. Navy Li’l Fatty could go on a feast inside the large space-devouring beast’s body, but the laws of the world in the nine provinces would restrain it, without the same freedom as outer space. Otherwise, even if he went to the Demon domain and faced Demon God Qiongqi in the future, he would have a great helper on his side.
External help could be used but not relied on. Even the Swelling Earth of the Nine Heavens was no different. At the end of the day, it still came down to his own strength.
“So powerful!” Xiao An offered up her most sincere admiration without holding back at all.
“A piece of cake.” Li Qingshan laughed aloud and pecked her face a few times.
Gu Yanying and Rāhu Xiaoming glanced at each other, but there was no joy on their faces.
“Kid, the world is done for, but fortunately, you’ve broken off the anchor. Let’s hurry up and prepare for ascension!”
Rāhu Xiaoming sighed and destroyed the mood.
Li Qingshan was surprised. “We went to such great effort and finally destroyed this ghost tower, so how can you say the world is done for instead?”
Gu Yanying smiled. “What great effort? And who was the one who just said it was that easy to save the world earlier?” She pointed at the Gate of Hungry Ghosts below. “Qingshan, don’t celebrate too soon. Take a clear look yourself!”
Li Qingshan followed her hand, only to see that the Gate of Hungry Ghost had not shrunken at all. Instead, it showed signs of expanding.
It was like a great hole in a painting, bottomless and pitch-black. Everything was sliding and falling into the hole. The death qi continued to gush out of the mouth of the hungry ghost, constantly eating away at the rest of the painting.
Li Qingshan’s heart sank. The Gate of Hungry Ghosts had always been the Umbral Yin sect’s trump card to make the entire world perish with them. Once it was opened, it was very difficult to close. Even after destroying the great ghost tower, such a large Gate of Hungry Ghosts could not be sealed and suppressed so easily.
The nine provinces remained in the mouth of the Hungry Ghost realm, being devoured slowly.
Rāhu Xiaoming said, “The Hungry Ghost realm has an instinct to devour, and it seems to be very interested in this successor of white bone, probably because the White Bone Bodhisattva had left it with far too deep of an impression back then.”
Li Qingshan furrowed his brows. If he ignored the mouth of the hungry ghost, then the undead could rise up again at any moment. Constructing another ghost tower would be nothing difficult. Was saving the world perhaps just empty talk? He found this rather difficult to accept.
“There must be a way!”
He summoned Navy Li’l Fatty again, which opened its mouth and began inhaling everything.
For a moment, the surroundings surged. The dark haze and the surging death qi whistled into Navy Li’l Fatty. It immediately swelled up like a balloon.
This clearly was not particularly nutritious to space-devouring beasts, but they were not picky at all. As long as Li Qingshan was bold enough to give it orders, it was bold enough to eat it.
However, this made the small world change again. Many buried corpses crawled out of their graves under the blowing death qi. Souls filled with obsessions and hatred turned into ghosts within the winds.
It set off an undead crisis. Countless people perished in the war, turning into undead, and countless people gained renown through battle too, becoming heroes. It made the already-turbulent small world even more wild.
A forbidden land called Skeleton island was created. Many years afterwards, the greatest demonic sect was founded, the Undying sect, which led to countless more slaughters and deaths.
Li Qingshan sighed slightly inside. He did not view mortals as ants, but when the difference in strength reached a certain degree, any single word or action of his could lead to a tremendous impact.
He had only made Navy Li’l Fatty devour the death qi to save everyone and everything that lived in the nine provinces. That could be regarded as a good deed done out of good intentions, but who knew how many innocent lives had been lost because of it.
Even without this, he had caused countless earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions when he made Navy Li’l Fatty devour the remains of the world back then in outer space, which turned into a meteor storm in the small world. How could it be possible that not a single life was lost? He definitely did not do this out of bad intentions either. It was a good deed that had benefited countless lives throughout the world.
And back then, he did not even feel a hint of apology, as everything was far too distant and far too insignificant. He was not even certain if he could survive, so why would he care about the fate of others?
These sighs were just sighs. Li Qingshan never regretted anything that he had done, nor could he bother with thinking about these overly complicated matters. Right now, sealing and suppressing the Gate of Hungry Ghosts was the priority.
He was powerless about this, but there was definitely a certain “person” who could do something about this.
“Xiaoming, recover your cultivation as quickly as possible. Yanying, help Xiaoming collect Asura Fields. Xiao An, you can… alright nevermind, just stay by my side. We’ll go and ask the Great Banyan Tree King. Whether we succeed or not, we won’t be remaining in this world for too long.”
Gu Yanying said nothing, just picking up Rāhu Xiaoming and leaving.
Li Qingshan produced another mirror clone to watch over the mouth of the hungry ghost and ordered Navy Li’l Fatty to stop the Hungry Ghost realm from trying any more tricks. Afterwards, he flew towards the Mist province with Xiao An.
“Qingshan, welcome back!”
As soon as Li Qingshan entered the Mist province, the Great Banyan Tree King’s voice echoed in the surroundings. The sea of trees surged, and all the residents of the trees looked up.
Ye Liubo emerged from the Shadow palace, saying to the child in her arms proudly, “Listen, that’s your dad’s name. Look at how impressive he is!”
The child was still very young, but her pitch-black eyes were filled with an intelligent light. She repeated with a clear, tender voice, “Daddy, Qingshan.”
In the Mist capital, the King of Southern Yue had learnt about Li Qingshan’s return a long time ago. He even knew all about how he defeated the Corpse Emperor and destroyed the Spirit Kṣetra temple. At his cultivation, news actually spread very quickly.
Hearing the Great Banyan Tree King’s welcome, he immediately flew off into the distance, also hurrying to Towering city.
The Green province, the Cloud province, the Harmony province… All of the places where the Great Banyan Tree King had become a god echoed with his voice, basically booming across the entire nine provinces. Everyone murmured that name inside. This would become a new legend.
Li Qingshan passed through the lush canopy and landed in Towering city.
The Great Banyan Tree King assumed his human form and smiled. “I’ve never underestimated you, but your performance always takes me by surprise!”
Li Qingshan smiled. “You’ve already said that many times now.”
The King of Southern Yue studied him closely. “Just how did you… how…”
“You just have to try.”
“Alright then!”
The King of Southern Yue accepted this explanation helplessly, even though he still had no idea what he wanted to ask. Just how had he returned from outer space? How had he defeated the Corpse Emperor? And how had he toppled the ghost tower…
Perhaps legends always possessed a rather inconceivable component that could not be understood.
Li Qingshan said, “If it weren’t for the urgency of the matter, I’d definitely go for a good drink with the two of you. May I ask the tree king how the mouth of the hungry ghost can be closed?”
The Great Banyan Tree King said, “This is a wound to the entire world. All cultivators are powerless with respect to this. All you can do is borrow the power of the world…”
Li Qingshan said, “I understand.”
“You understand?”
“I’ve already been a god before.”
The will of the world was powerful but blurred. Everything operated based on instinct, unable to unleash its power effectively. However, if there was a capable and powerful head caretaker, then that would be very different. At the very least, a Corpse King could not have snuck his way in. He could mobilise the winds and lightning to repel or even kill him.
The Great Banyan Tree King was very surprised. “You’ve become a god?”
Li Qingshan said, “Let me pass on all of my experiences and knowledge to you right now. Haha, I never thought there would be a moment when I would have to guide you.”
The Great Banyan Tree King smiled wryly. “Your knowledge has surpassed mine. This has always been just a matter of time.”
“I’ll go collect the remaining cauldrons,” Xiao An suddenly said. Despite her reluctance, she still had to help him out. After a moment of hesitation, she said, “You better not disappear again.”
Li Qingshan said, “I won’t. I’ll definitely wait for you to return. The Frost Province cauldron is already gone, and you can wait for me to retrieve the Dragon Province cauldron. I’ll leave the rest up to you.”
The Great Banyan Tree King had already become the god of five provinces. All that remained were two cauldrons.
The King of Southern Yue said, “I might as well come along as a persuasive talker! Though, it would be best if we don’t have to use force. This is for the sake of the nine provinces. I’m sure those two fellows will have the bigger picture in mind.”
Li Qingshan smiled. “You probably don’t need me to visit in person then.”
They split up again. Li Qingshan followed the hole that had opened up in the tree trunk and entered the internal pith of Towering city.
His experiences as the god of a world were far too vast and profound. If he tried to pass it on using words, who knew how much saliva and ink it would take.
Hollow, jade-green aerial roots extended out, directly connecting with Li Qingshan’s head. The Great Banyan Tree King had always been capable of the Wisdom Imbuement technique. Today, he was just reversing it.
Li Qingshan shut his eyes. The corresponding information appeared in his sea of consciousness, surging towards the Great Banyan Tree King through the aerial roots.
The information was just so vast and disorderly, containing both the profound nature of the laws of the world, as well as the indifference and loftiness that came with becoming a god of the world. If it had been any other Daemon King instead, they would probably be overwhelmed immediately, leading to a drastic change in disposition, or it might even drive them insane.
Fortunately, the Great Banyan Tree King had already become the god of half of the world, which was why he could adjust to this influence. His countless cuttings spread across the world gave him an extremely great ability to digest and calculate. Every single banyan tree, regardless of size, accepted and checked the information. The countless banyan trees formed a complicated system similar to a neural network, collaborating together and pouring their efforts together.
Waves of green light swept across the sea of trees. All of the banyan leaves trembled gently, filled with the Great Banyan Tree King’s shock and joy. The knowledge was far too important to him.
Originally, he was rather worried when he heard Li Qingshan mention that the Frost Province cauldron was gone, but now, he was completely unfazed. Even without the Frost Province cauldron, he was confident enough to become the god of the Frost province in a short amount of time.
In order to conserve time and let the Great Banyan Tree King become the god of the world as soon as possible, he only gave him the purest information.
The Great Banyan Tree King was unable to imagine just what kind of dangers he had faced in outer space to obtain something so great. At this moment, he could not spare the effort to imagine either. He gathered all of his power to digest this extremely precious treasure trove of information.
And even despite that, it lasted for three days and three nights before the information transfer was complete.
When Li Qingshan opened his eyes again, Xiao An and the King of Southern Yue had already returned with two cauldrons.
“Need me to shatter them?”
“That would be fantastic.”
Li Qingshan punched out, and the cauldrons shattered.